REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. -- Bruce Bodie's words were there, but his voice was not, but Trace Adkins heard what he had to say loud and clear.
Standing in line with his wife Belinda at the Von Braun Center's Propst Arena, Bodie was ready and waiting with the words he would offer the country music star when the time for his meet and greet came, but unlike the excited chatty fans around him, the retired master sergeant didn't utter a word. Bodie was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease, in July 2011, a result of his time spent serving his country in the first Gulf War. Three years ago, he could run, dance and talk. Today, from his wheelchair, he relies on his iPad to speak for him.
"It is a pleasure and an honor meeting you at this time," Bodie told Adkins with the assistance of his iPad. "Thank you on behalf of the Soldiers."
In turn, Adkins thanked Bodie for his service. A Soldier for 24 years, Bodie and his fellow veterans were the very reason for Adkins' appearance Friday in Huntsville. Even though Bodie physically couldn't, Friday night all of North Alabama stood up in support of him and all other servicemembers at the second annual American Freedom Festival. Proceeds from the benefit concert, featuring Adkins and Jana Kramer, went to Still Serving Veterans, a Huntsville based veterans service organization devoted to empowering veterans and their families. The event brought out wounded warriors and vets from across North Alabama, who felt the love and support of their community throughout every moment of the evening.
"It means a lot," said Ryan Dohrmann, who served six and a half years in the Marines, and was wounded on a deployment to Iraq. "When you're overseas you don't really see this aspect of it and how much support there is -- especially in Huntsville there's a lot of support for veterans -- and you don't see a lot of that. There's a lot of people out there who care and really support the veterans."
One of those people is Adkins himself, who is known for his staunch support of the military and veterans issues, and serves as spokesman for the Wounded Warrior Project.
"He's a really patriotic artist," said Dohrmann, who first met Adkins while at the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Lejeune, N.C. "It doesn't seem like he does the music and the songs for the fame or the money, he does it because he really cares about the troops."
That care and concern was especially evident to country music fan Lance Cpl. Kendall Bane, who was shot four times by Taliban fighters while serving in Marjeh, Afghanistan, on Sept. 20, 2012. It was while in the hospital recovering with his mom Suzy that Bane first heard Adkins' single "Til the Last Shot's Fired." The song struck a special chord in him.
"After Kendall and I listened to that song he just looked at me and very quietly said, 'I want to meet him one day Mom,'" Suzy said. "As a mom you'll do anything for your child, and so I began scheming how am I going to make this happen?"
Hit in the right calf, left thigh, abdomen and head, doctors originally told the young Huntsville native that he would likely never walk again. When he met Adkins Friday night, he was able to do so on his own two feet. The following day he was planning to go skydiving for the first time.
"It was the 'Tell me I can't and I'll show you I can' attitude that I've always had," Bane said of his perseverance. "It's kind of how I ended up in the Marine Corps in the first place because people were telling me it wasn't a good idea, so I said, 'Really? Stand by.' It's one of those situations that when you're placed in it you don't have any control over it. Obviously I didn't want to get shot that day, but then you're either, A, in a hospital, I've been shot, that sucks, I intend to stay like this for the rest of my life, or B, you get better. Those are your only options. People say, 'You've done such a great job with your recovery,' but really, I don't want to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. It was good incentive."
Adkins not only took the time out to meet with Bane one-on-one prior to the show, but also dedicated his song "Semper Fi" to the wounded warrior, who he called up on stage to honor. It was moments just like that that spoke to what the evening was all about -- not cowboy boots and shiny belt buckles -- but people like Bane who have bravely served their country in uniform. Jack Tilley, 12th sergeant major of the Army and co-founder of the American Freedom Foundation, which organizes the benefit concerts at select locations across the country, called to mind the more than 40,000 wounded, 6,000 killed, and 1,200 amputees who served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. One in five have some form of PTSD or traumatic brain injury.
"Let that settle into your brain just for a second, because it's not about us, it's about them," Tilley said. "It's not about talking about what we want to do for our veterans, it's about making a difference."
The mission of the American Freedom Foundation is to not only raise awareness for those veterans' service and sacrifice, but to also raise money for organizations across the country who serve them, such as Still Serving Veterans. Presenting sponsor Northrop Grumman and the American Freedom Foundation presented the organization with a check for $25,000 at the concert. Eighty-six cents of every dollar given to Still Serving Veterans goes directly to programs designed to help veterans reintegrate into civilian lives and careers.
"They really ask very little for what they do, and we know that just saying thank you is not enough," retired Lt. Gen. Kevin Campbell, vice president and corporate lead for Northrop Grumman, said of the veterans in the local community and across the nation. "As our government struggles with debt and deficit, now it's more important than ever before that we support our vets to make sure they get the care and help they so richly deserve."
Last year, Still Serving Veterans conducted 3,499 one-on-one counseling sessions for veterans, helped 164 find new, meaningful careers, and secured more than $7.7 million in new salaries, benefits and services. With the proceeds from the concert, the organization will be able to expand its reach to help even more in 2013.
"Every veteran comes with different situations -- different situations mentally, physically and in terms of ability," said Sheila McFerran, Still Serving Veterans' director for program development. "What we do is a customized, one-on-one holistic approach. A lot of what we do can be done virtually, but to really see the change you've got be able to do it one-on-one."
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